Your Essential Guide to Finding the Best VR Headset

Virtual reality has been one of the hottest trends in technology in the recent years, although first generation head-mounted displays dates back to the early 90s. You are reading this probably because you are looking to buy a headset, so it is our goal to guide you find the perfect solution.

Depending on your budget, you may be wondering what the best solutions are at the moment. It is probably a little too consuming to go over every headset in detail, so here we outline the best headsets in this post to save you the time to research on your own. You can thank us later.

Prices vary drastically as performance and purpose will dictate which headset is best for you. VR headset are evolving drastically, and this post will be continuously updated to provide you with the latest news. We will be going over brief history, discuss specifications, and compare performance versus price for different heasets.

Presently, there are few dozen headset makers producing virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality goggles. In this ultimate guide to virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality headsets, we take a deep look at the most promising products on the market.

Image credit: HTC

HTC

Smartphone marker HTC has been at the forefront of the virtual reality boom. The company switched gear to focus entirely on the virtual reality industry, and has since sold their smartphone business unit. The HTC Vive headset is the most premium virtual reality device currently available. It is the only headset that allows a user to walk around in a virtual world. However, this advantage won’t last for long as many headset makers will be providing the freedom to move around in VR.

Oculus

Facebook owned Oculus is arguably the most influential VR headset to date. When founder Palmer Lucky successfully raised 2.4 million on a crowd funding campaign, this event ultimately kickstarted the entire VR revolution. What was once a really minuscule company is now worth billions. The Oculus Rift is definitely a top VR headset on the market.

PSVR

Sony has expressed interest in virtual reality for sometime now. The PlayStation 4 is one of the most popular gaming console in the world, and Sony has since launched the PSVR headset to complement the gaming experience. For the price of the console and the quality of experiences, PSVR is on our top list as one of the best VR headsets on the market.

Windows Mixed Realiy Headsets

The Windows Mixed Reality platform is Microsoft’s attempt into the virtual reality industry. The platform is already joined by several electronic manufacturers such as ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and ACER. The platform is named mixed reality, since Microsoft sees a convergence between AR and VR down the road. However, the device currently only support virtual reality.

Gear VR

The Gear VR is the first premium mobile headset, co-developed by Oculus and Samsung. If you already own a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, this is definitely the most affordable solution as the best performance you will get. But if you don’t already own a Samsung phone, you will need to spend a couple hundred bucks to invest in a Samsung phone.